Concert Week

So our winter concert is this Sunday. Today during my largest band class we moved all the percussion equipment into the auditorium. It was an adventure that I tried to be prepared for. Overall it went allright, but of course there were wild unpredictable things.

Our band room is on the 3rd floor. Don't ask me who designed that or who approved the idea because if I knew, I would hunt them down. And probably all of their descendants as well. We moved 5 large pieces of keyboard equipment, timpani, chimes, bass drum, and all of the other standard stuff. Many of the students were very helpful and resourceful. As much as I tried to stress that everyone needed to help, there were of course 10 or 12 people who didn't do a thing. Whatever. It all got down there, and I spent my lunch hour setting the stage, and I am pretty satisfied. The whole process gave me more gray hairs though. I'm not sure what a 32'' timpani crashing down concrete steps sounds like, but I don't ever want to find out.

I learned that you can take the individual tubes out of a set of chimes. It was very easy and saved the dangerous hassle of carrying that thing as a whole! And, thanks to my high school co-op, I knew how to take a marimba apart, so I saved that one for my freshman percussion class and did it with them. That was a lot of fun.

At the beginning of each rehearsal that I started in the auditorium, I discovered something else that I forgot to have brought down, so there were invariably all kind of delays, all day long. Along with everyone else, I'm discovering that these kind of logistical events are what can really bite you in the butt as a music teacher, especially the first time around. Yet another lesson in the fact that skills, knowledge, and all around 'chops' aren't much until you have had plenty of experience and practice.

Overall the concert should go well. I am a little worried about some spots with the freshman band holding together. I know I could have taught many things better, but now is the time to simply do the best we can, and simply bank those reflections and implement them next unit. I don't want to come across as one of those directors who seem like they teach everything at the last minute. There are parts that have sounded like mud and the kids have recovered and kept going without dropping a beat, which for my 9th graders is pretty substantial. So hopefully the audience enjoys it. I'm still of course holding that belief that every single thing my students ever do is a direct personal reflection of me and my abilities, which I know I need to shake.

If the top group focuses they should make an excellent presentation, so I am very excited for that. I picked more substantial music than they usually play for this concert, and that seems to have gone over well.

When this concert is over, our semester is effectively over. We will have 6 school days left, during 2 of which I will be at the Midwest Conference. After scale tests, a little bit of sight reading, and a class party, that will wind us down. I cannot wait for Midwest! Let me know if you're planning on being there as well.

Even more than that, I cannot wait to be more than halfway done with the first year of teaching. Of course, that also means I'll have to contend with 2nd semester seniors...